I don't think the creators of Batman had any idea just how important Joker was going to end up being at the time. It had reached to the point where he became more than just another villain in Batman's lineup. The character took a life of it's own.

That's true of virtually every popular comic book villain. What's your point?

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Batman's existence is not reliant on The Joker, but the Batman mythos certainly is. By having Joker be the killer, it suggests that this is a character who is tied to Batman.

That's straw clutching. The Batman mythos is reliant on many villains and characters, not just the Joker.

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Well technically, it was not the Joker who killed Bruce's parents in the movie. It was Jack Napier, a common thug. Only after encountering Batman did he become "reborn" as The Joker.

Batman to Joker: "You killed my parents"

Lets not split hairs here.

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You can feel any way you want about it. Burton's film isn't the definitive interpretation of Batman any more so than Scorsese's film was the definitive interpretation of Jesus. It's just one movie. It's just one man's vision.

Oh I know. I would never ever call Burton's take definitive. Neither would a lot of Batman fans considering the negative reaction several of his creative decisions got from the Batman fan community like the ones I posted above. I've even seen Burton comment on the negative reaction his movies got from the Batman fan community.

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